First, Professor Yin has posted some thoughts on the subject in terms of both game theory and morality/ethics. In terms of the game, he notes that Cindy could have taken home $15,000 more if she'd stayed through just one more vote.* In terms of morals/ethics, he suggests that the cost of those four cars has to be paid by someone, which means eventually to all car buyers (I guess); therefore, maybe Cindy did us a favor by taking just one car rather than taking four. I find that a rather implausible argument; I doubt GM just gave the cars to CBS in the first place and even if it did, such an expense is the least of GM's burdens future car buyers will be paying.

That said, I understand that we live in a “get mine first” world and that Survivor especially is a “get mine first” game. Without reviewing past seasons too closely, it seems that the “get mine first” players almost never win. The players who tend to win are those who are either:

1) Nice, mostly under-the-radar, and in good enough shape/smart enough to win crucial challenges to stay in the game. I'd put Tina Wesson (Season 2), Ethan Zohn (S3), Jenna Morasca (S6), Amber Brkich (S8), and Danni (S11) in this category.

2) Canny manipulators who are just good enough at getting people to do what they want that they earn respect for being so ruthless and capable and therefore end up winning. I'd put Richard Hatch (S1), Brian Heidek (S5), Sandra Diaz-Twine (S6), and Tom Westman (S10) in this category.

Group 1 wins because people underestimate them, they make it to the end, and then they have fewer enemies than their counterpart. Group 2 wins because they are able to see the big picture and give things up when necessary to get further in the game. My point is that neither of these types of players are “get mine firsters.” Hence, I continue to maintain that what Cindy did was just dumb in the context of the game.

Outside the game she's probably not too worried about it. Everyone who remained after her got enough money to buy 3-4 cars or more, so it's not like she totally shafted them. Still, I can't help thinking about the great sensation Cindy would have made if she had chosen differently. Her generosity would have made her a media darling, if only for a few minutes. It would have been shocking to the majority who thinks she did the right thing, and would have given tv-watchers a moment to consider giving rather than taking the next time they faced such a choice (by which I mean a choice between giving and taking generally, not a choice between taking one car or giving four away).

But whatever. That's not what happened. In the end, Cindy got more than she deserved (a new car plus $55,000) and a worthy contestant ended up winning. So goes Survivor.

I'm really not thinking 24/7 about Survivor, although from recent posts here it might seem that way. Still, since finals are over, what else do I have to think about? Getting a job? Oh, well, Survivor is clearly more fun.

* Wikipedia has a breakdown of how much money each contestant ends up with. Scroll down 5-6 screens to “prizes.”